Absolutely with pp on blackout blinds and white noise!
As for wind down I think it's just a case of experimenting to see what works best - some LO's need a really, really short wind down whereas it takes my LO a bit longer to transition from activity to sleep so I have to take it slowly. Previously I was taking him upstairs, reading a story and singing a lullaby then putting him in his cot. This is what we do now: about 20 minutes before sleep time I stop whatever activity we're doing and spend a few minutes looking out of the window, watching the cars, birds, trees etc. Then we go for a walk around the room, looking at the pictures and in the mirror. Next I take him upstairs and we say bye bye to the sun, sky and next door's chickens (LOL - my DH thinks I'm a loony but I make him do it too when he puts LO down for a nap!). We go in to his room and cuddle on the chair with his lovie while I read a story, then we close the blinds, swaddle, have another little cuddle and then into his cot. Now, for some LOs that would be WAY too much so I'm not recommending this as an approach, it's just what works for us.
As far as A times are concerned, we're now working on 2hrs 20 - 2.5 hours and my DS will also be 6 months in just under two weeks (27th May). Maybe it would be worth trying 5 minutes longer on your As for 3 days to see what happens? Just a word of warning though, my DS does seem to be able to handle slightly longer A times so you'd need to be careful you don't end up with the OT monster! My DS also sometimes seems cranky really early into his A time sometimes but I tend just to change the activity and he quietens down again (think he has a short attention span like his dad!)
Agree with Emma about so much of it depending on the temperament of your LO too - mine is textbook but soo touchy when it comes to sleep that we also need everything just so...and I just figure out what 'just so' is and then he goes and changes his mind
